FDBusiness.com

Arla Foods, announced a new addition to its popular Arla Protein range earlier this month. The company launched the quark based snack in the UK last year and is now extending the range with these 200g pots, which include a top hat filled with nutritious nuts and seeds, designed to be mixed with the protein packed flavored quark and yogurt blend below.

With no added sugar and 20g of high quality protein per pot, the new Arla Protein Snack Pots have been created with the active, health conscious consumer in mind -designed to provide a high protein healthy fix when the body needs it most, be that a post workout or as a nutritious breakfast at the desk.

The new product is available in two flavors: natural yogurt with a hint of ginger, topped with sunflower seeds, roasted cashew nuts, freeze-dried apple and carrot and natural yogurt with a hint of vanilla, topped with sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, freeze-dried apples and raspberries.

Louise Hagger, Brand Manager, Arla Foods UK, commented: “Following the success of Arla Protein in 2015 we will be extending the range in 2016 with exciting NPD that delivers unique products for the active consumer and Arla Protein Snack Pots is our first, exciting addition.

The protein trend is really taking off in the UK – it’s no longer only the serious gym-goer that is looking for more protein in their diet, but it’s now those that are active in different ways -whether that’s playing sports, cycling, swimming or yoga, for example. Arla Protein Snack Pots are exactly what the active consumer is looking for – high protein, great tasting and in an easy eat on-the-go format.”

Speaking at the World Food Innovate 2016, London, Aria’s Innovation Manager, Tytti-Lotta Ojala highlights the way in which Arla work to create a consumer driven organization: “I think that the biggest emphasis and the biggest need for empathetic organization are consumer driven organizations is the top and middle management. I think that managements are often quite alienated from what’s going on in the markets.”

“I think from a bigger perspective every company wants to be a step ahead of its consumers and this means you need to be better in innovations. We really need to understand, where are people going, where are the habits and motivations going,” says Ojala.

“Consumers must be the starting point of our design,” claims Ojala. The result that we brought after practicing for nine months with this new kind of thinking, was Arla Protein, I’m very proud of this product [Arla Protein] which is actually imported to the UK, [Arla] Protein has become a product which we launched it in a massively competitive market in Finland, there were 5 – 7 competitors on the shelf already. A few years before, when I suggested this concept, the top management said protein is never going to be an interesting area.”

“We are number two in the dairy market currently just after one and a half years after launching, why? We were able to find something that nobody else had found, if you cannot be the first you need to find something which is unique enough in order to succeed,” Ojala adds.